Samantha (not her real name) had always been active, enjoying morning jogs and weekend hikes. But when she started experiencing persistent neck pain, simple tasks like looking over her shoulder or even sitting at her desk became unbearable. When it came to neck strain relief, over-the-counter pain pills simply weren’t cutting it.
She decided to try physical therapy at Fitness Matters. At her first appointment, Samantha shared that her neck pain developed gradually. Her job requires long hours at a computer, which can often lead to poor posture and significant muscle tension. And although Samantha was very active on the weekends and in the evenings, she sometimes overexerted herself. This combination led to neck strain.
Fortunately, physical therapy offers several solutions for neck strain relief, including targeted exercises, postural corrections, and more. After a few weeks of dedicated sessions, Samantha’s pain was gone–and she had some essential tips and strategies from our physical therapists on how to prevent it from occurring in the future.
Are you struggling with persistent neck pain? Our team can help you, too. Today, we want to share what you can expect when you visit our Ohio clinic with neck pain, including information about our comprehensive assessments and personalized treatments. Keep reading to learn more!
What To Expect: The In-Depth Assessment
Just as we did with Sarah, your first appointment will always consist of an in-depth evaluation to help us determine the cause of your neck pain. We’ll take a complete health history, but we’ll talk to you about your daily activities, posture, and any specific movements that trigger discomfort. These details help us understand your unique situation.
The evaluation will also include several movement screens, such as asking you to turn your head from side to side, tilt it up and down, or shrug your shoulders. These movements help us identify mobility restrictions and pain points. We’ll also assess your posture and spinal alignment while sitting and standing to see if we can identify any issues that might contribute to neck pain.
We do all of this because the first step in finding pain relief is identifying what’s causing it. As Sarah, neck strain is a prevalent source of neck pain, occurring when the soft tissue in your neck becomes damaged. Several factors can lead to it, including poor posture, prolonged sitting, and physical activities that require repetitive neck movements.
Finding Neck Strain Relief with a Personalized Treatment Plan
Once we know the specifics of your situation, we’ll develop a customized program to reduce neck pain, improve neck mobility and function, and help you prevent future occurrences of neck strain. While every program is different, here are some of the techniques we typically utilize:
Manual Therapy
These hands-on techniques offer several benefits, including pain management and improved mobility. They also promote blood circulation to the affected area, which helps facilitate healing. Specific techniques we might use include the following:
- Neck mobilizations, in which we gently guide your neck through its range of motion
- Soft tissue manipulation, in which we gently massage and manipulate your muscles, tendons, and ligaments
- Myofascial release, in which we apply gentle pressure to the connective tissue surrounding your neck muscles
Therapeutic Exercises
Targeted neck exercises are a crucial part of any neck strain relief program. Here’s what we might include:
- Stretching exercises to improve neck mobility
- Strengthening exercises to build muscular support around the neck joint, helping to support your cervical spine
- Postural exercises to improve overall posture and prevent future strain.
Prevention Tips
We’ll also share personalized strategies to prevent future occurrences of neck strain, such as the following:
- Strategies to increase physical activity and avoid prolonged postures
- Ergonomic adjustments for a more neck-friendly workstation
- Tips for maintaining postural awareness to prevent strain on the cervical spine
Find Neck Strain Relief!
We hope this blog gives you a better sense of what to expect when you visit Fitness Matters to address neck pain. If you’re tired of dealing with persistent neck pain, schedule an appointment with us today!
